B-145238, MAY 1, 1961

B-145238, MAY 1, 1961

TO MASTER SERGEANT JOHN R. SULLIVAN:

YOUR LETTER DATED FEBRUARY 6, 1961, REQUESTS REVIEW OF OUR SETTLEMENT DATED FEBRUARY 20, 1959, WHICH DISALLOWED YOUR CLAIM FOR REFUND OF A PORTION OF THE AMOUNT COLLECTED FROM YOU AS EXCESS COSTS OF SHIPMENT OF YOUR HOUSEHOLD GOODS FROM FORT BELVOIR, VIRGINIA, TO STOCKTON, CALIFORNIA, INCIDENT TO YOUR SERVICE IN THE UNITED STATES ARMY.

BY PARAGRAPH 30, SPECIAL ORDERS NO. 193, DATED OCTOBER 4, 1957, YOU WERE RELIEVED FROM YOUR ASSIGNMENT AT FORT BELVOIR, VIRGINIA, AND DIRECTED TO PROCEED TO YOUR HOME OF RECORD, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, OCTOBER 29, 1957, FOR RELEASE FROM ACTIVE DUTY ON NOVEMBER 1, 1957. THE ORDERS PROVIDED FOR TRANSPORTATION OF YOUR HOUSEHOLD GOODS. PARAGRAPH 2 OF SPECIAL ORDERS NO. 239, DATED NOVEMBER 1, 1957, PROVIDED THAT HAVING REENLISTED IN THE REGULAR ARMY IN THE GRADE OF MASTER SERGEANT YOU WERE ORDERED TO PROCEED NOVEMBER 1, 1957, TO UNITED STATES ARMY RECEPTION STATION, FORT JACKSON, SOUTH CAROLINA, FOR FURTHER PROCESSING AND ASSIGNMENT TO 8TH UNITED STATES ARMY. BY PARAGRAPH 168 OF SPECIAL ORDERS NO. 280, DATED NOVEMBER 21, 1957, YOU WERE RELIEVED OF YOUR ASSIGNMENT AT FORT JACKSON, SOUTH CAROLINA, AND TRANSFERRED TO REPLACEMENT STATION (6020), OAKLAND ARMY TERMINAL, OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA, FOR PROCESSING FOR CONTINENTAL UNITED STATES LEVY FOR NOVEMBER ALLOCATION TO 8TH UNITED STATES ARMY, REPORTING NOT LATER THAN JANUARY 6, 1958. TRANSPORTATION OF HOUSEHOLD GOODS WAS AUTHORIZED IN CONNECTION WITH THIS TRANSFER.

YOU SAY THAT WHEN YOU RECEIVED INFORMATION THAT YOU WOULD BE RELIEVED FROM ACTIVE DUTY NOT LATER THAN OCTOBER 31, 1957, YOU INVESTIGATED THE POSSIBILITY OF REENLISTING FOR SERVICE IN KOREA AND THAT AFTER PRELIMINARY TESTING YOU QUALIFIED FOR AN EXISTING OPENING FOR MASTER SERGEANT, E-7, IN YOUR MILITARY OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALTY IN THE 8TH UNITED STATES ARMY. ALSO YOU SAY THAT IN ANTICIPATION OF YOUR SEPARATION, REENLISTMENT AND ULTIMATE TRANSFER OVERSEAS, YOU COMMENCED MAKING ARRANGEMENTS EARLY IN OCTOBER 1957, FOR TRANSPORTATION OF YOUR HOUSEHOLD GOODS. IT APPEARS THAT YOU ENTERED ON ACTIVE DUTY FROM ATLANTA, GEORGIA, BUT YOUR HOME OF RECORD AT THAT TIME WAS CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. YOU HAD SELECTED MANTECA, CALIFORNIA, AS YOUR HOME UPON SEPARATION AND THE PLACE TO WHICH YOU DESIRED TO HAVE YOUR DEPENDENTS AND HOUSEHOLD GOODS TRANSFERRED UPON REENLISTMENT FOR OVERSEAS DUTY. SINCE UPON SEPARATION YOU WERE ENTITLED TO TRANSPORTATION OF YOUR DEPENDENTS AND HOUSEHOLD EFFECTS FROM FORT BELVOIR TO CHICAGO, AND UPON REENLISTMENT FOR OVERSEAS DUTY YOU WOULD BE ENTITLED TO SUCH TRANSPORTATION TO ANY LOCATION IN THE UNITED STATES, YOU WERE ADVISED TO HAVE YOUR HOUSEHOLD GOODS PICKED UP UNDER YOUR SEPARATION ORDERS, PACKED AND STORED UNTIL YOU COULD RESUBMIT YOUR REENLISTMENT ORDERS TO SUPPORT SHIPMENT OF YOUR EFFECTS TO CALIFORNIA. HOWEVER, YOUR EFFECTS WEIGHING 7,850 POUNDS WHEN PACKED FOR SHIPMENT, WERE PICKED UP OCTOBER 29, 1957, AND IMMEDIATELY TRANSFERRED TO CALIFORNIA, WHERE THEY WERE APPARENTLY PLACED IN STORAGE PENDING YOUR ARRIVAL THERE. SINCE UNDER YOUR SEPARATION ORDERS YOU WERE ENTITLED ONLY TO SHIPMENT OF YOUR HOUSEHOLD GOODS FROM FORT BELVOIR TO CHICAGO, OR TO ANY OTHER PLACE AT NO GREATER COST, YOU WERE ASSESSED EXCESS COST IN THE AMOUNT OF $563.56, BEING THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE ACTUAL COST OF THE SHIPMENT AND THE CHARGES WHICH WOULD HAVE BEEN INCURRED HAD SHIPMENT BEEN MADE TO CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, WHICH AMOUNT HAS BEEN PAID BY YOU. YOU CLAIMED REFUND OF $434.61 OF THIS AMOUNT ON THE BASIS THAT UNDER SPECIAL ORDERS NO. 280, DATED NOVEMBER 21, 1957, YOU WERE AUTHORIZED SHIPMENT OF 6,000 POUNDS OF HOUSEHOLD GOODS FROM FORT BELVOIR TO ANY PLACE IN THE UNITED STATES YOU MIGHT CHOOSE AND THUS THE EXCESS COST SHOULD HAVE BEEN COMPUTED ON 1,850 POUNDS FROM CHICAGO, TO STOCKTON, OR $128.95. YOUR CLAIM WAS DISALLOWED FOR THE REASON THAT YOUR HOUSEHOLD GOODS WERE SHIPPED UNDER SPECIAL ORDERS NO. 193, SEPARATING YOU FROM THE SERVICE AS MAJOR PRIOR TO THE TIME YOU HAD REENLISTED IN THE SERVICE AND BEFORE YOU RECEIVED ORDERS ASSIGNING YOU TO A NEW PERMANENT DUTY STATION, AND, THEREFORE, THE EXCESS COST HAD BEEN PROPERLY COMPUTED.

SECTION 303 (C) OF THE CAREER COMPENSATION ACT OF 1949, AS AMENDED, 37 U.S.C. 253 (C), PROVIDES THAT UNDER SUCH CONDITIONS AND LIMITATIONS AND FOR SUCH RANKS, GRADES, OR RATINGS AND TO AND FROM SUCH LOCATIONS AS MAY BE PRESCRIBED BY THE SECRETARIES, MEMBERS OF THE UNIFORMED SERVICES WHEN ORDERED TO MAKE A CHANGE OF STATION SHALL BE ENTITLED TO TRANSPORTATION OF BAGGAGE AND HOUSEHOLD EFFECTS, OR REIMBURSEMENT THEREFOR, TO AND FROM SUCH LOCATIONS AND WITHIN SUCH WEIGHT LIMITATIONS AS MAY BE PRESCRIBED BY THE SECRETARIES. PARAGRAPH 3003-1 OF THE JOINT TRAVEL REGULATIONS PROMULGATED PURSUANT TO THIS AUTHORITY, PROVIDES THAT THE TERM "PERMANENT CHANGE OF STATION" INCLUDES THE CHANGE FROM LAST DUTY STATION TO HOME OR TO THE PLACE FROM WHICH ORDERED TO ACTIVE DUTY UPON SEPARATION FROM THE SERVICE. PARAGRAPH 8001-1 PROVIDES THAT HOUSEHOLD GOODS OF MEMBERS WITHIN THE WEIGHT LIMITATIONS THEREIN PRESCRIBED MAY BE SHIPPED AT GOVERNMENT EXPENSE. THE TABLE OF WEIGHT ALLOWANCES THUS ESTABLISHED SHOWS PERMANENT CHANGE OF STATION WEIGHT ALLOWANCES OF 9,500 POUNDS FOR A MAJOR AND 6,000 POUNDS FOR AN ENLISTED MAN IN GRADE E-7. FOOTNOTE 1 TO THIS TABLE, PROVIDES THAT THE WEIGHT ALLOWANCE OF AN INDIVIDUAL IS BASED UPON HIS GRADE AT THE TIME OF DETACHMENT FROM THE LAST DUTY STATION. THE REGULATIONS FURTHER PROVIDE (8009-4B (2) ( THAT WHEN A MEMBER IS ORDERED TO AN OVERSEAS STATION AND SHIPMENT OF HOUSEHOLD GOODS IS PROHIBITED OR WHEN, DUE TO MILITARY RESTRICTIONS, IT IS ANTICIPATED THAT DEPENDENTS WILL NOT BE PERMITTED TO JOIN HIM WITHIN 20 WEEKS, SHIPMENT IS AUTHORIZED TO ANY PLACE IN THE UNITED STATES THE MEMBER MAY DESIGNATE.

UNDER THESE PROVISIONS OF LAW AND REGULATIONS YOU COULD HAVE SHIPPED YOUR HOUSEHOLD GOODS TO CHICAGO, OR SOME OTHER POINT AT NO GREATER COST PURSUANT TO SPECIAL ORDERS NO. 193. UNDER SPECIAL ORDERS NO. 280 YOU WERE AUTHORIZED TO SHIP EFFECTS NOT TO EXCEED 6,000 POUNDS TO ANY PLACE IN THE UNITED STATES YOU MIGHT DESIGNATE. HENCE, HAD YOUR HOUSEHOLD GOODS REMAINED AT FORT BELVOIR, YOU WOULD HAVE BEEN ENTITLED TO SHIP YOUR AUTHORIZED WEIGHT ALLOWANCE AS AN ENLISTED MAN FROM THERE TO MANTECA AND, IN ADDITION, YOU WOULD HAVE BEEN ENTITLED TO SHIPMENT WITHOUT CHARGE FOR EXCESS WEIGHT AS FAR AS CHICAGO. ON THAT BASIS YOU WOULD ONLY HAVE BEEN CHARGED FOR 1,550 POUNDS OF EXCESS WEIGHT FROM CHICAGO TO MANTECA, 7,850 POUNDS LESS 6,000 POUNDS PLUS FIVE PERCENT FOR PACKING FOR SHIPMENT BY MOTOR VAN. SINCE YOU ADVISED THE TRANSPORTATION OFFICER OF ALL THE FACTS IN YOUR CASE AND THE MOVEMENT OF YOUR GOODS TO CALIFORNIA WAS INCIDENT TO YOUR REENLISTMENT AND TRANSFER OVERSEAS, THE FACT THAT YOUR GOODS WERE MOVED DIRECTLY TO CALIFORNIA AFTER LEAVING YOUR CONTROL PRIOR TO THE ISSUANCE OF SPECIAL ORDERS NO. 280 IS IMMATERIAL, YOUR REENLISTMENT AND ASSIGNMENT OVERSEAS HAVING ACTUALLY BEEN ACCOMPLISHED. ACCORDINGLY, YOU ARE ENTITLED TO REIMBURSEMENT FOR THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE EXCESS COST PAID BY YOU AND THE EXCESS COST WHICH WOULD HAVE BEEN INCURRED FOR SHIPPING 1,550 POUNDS EXCESS WEIGHT FROM CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, TO STOCKTON, CALIFORNIA. A SETTLEMENT FOR THE AMOUNT FOUND DUE ON THAT BASIS WILL ISSUE IN YOUR FAVOR AT AN EARLY DATE.